For several years, CEIU/PSAC members have complained about the government’s lack of strategic planning to address the backlog of cases.

Years of budget cuts, underfunding of programs, and decision makers who lack a long-term strategic vision for sustainable change are just some challenges government workers have faced over the years.

Currently, there are more than one million backlogged files in Employment Insurance. This situation is unsustainable for all Canadians and affects the mental and physical workload of field staff.

“Our members have always been here for Canada, despite the safety risks throughout the pandemic, years of cumulative job cuts, and not being paid by the disastrous Phoenix pay system. Our members have huge caseloads, and some are burning out. We need to invest where it’s needed most, for the long term,” says Eddy Bourque, CEIU National President.

Despite the massive recruitment of staff to reduce wait times, we need to consider the time required to train these new employees and the human resources needed to support them.

“People are being put on the frontlines with limited online training. This isn’t good for the employees, and it's not good for the citizens they provide public services too,’ says Crystal Warner, National Executive Vice-President. ‘We will continue to apply pressure to the employer to advocate for our members.”